Carlisle's Diner
by iimagiinatiion
Summary: Bella is being set up on blind dates at Carlisle's Diner where Edward happens to work. As she goes through the dates, she starts falling for someone unexpected. Who? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Bella's POV

Rose had set me up on a blind date. Again. _For the third time this month. _

I love Rose and everything, but I don't think she understood that I could be, and was, happy without a guy currently in my life. I was becoming an independent woman whose first priority was not to find the perfect guy, marry him, and have 7 of his babies.

My career was blossoming into the respectable newspaper columnist I had always dreamed it would. I had written several articles for the _Chicago Sun Tribune_ already and received positive criticism on each.

Along with my career, my personal life was blossoming as I had already made several new friends working at the newspaper, (such as Alice), still managing to stay close with friends I met in college, (such as Rosalie). I was staying close to my family; my mother Renee and her new husband Phil had come to visit me several times. They were doing well and having fun traveling for Phil's baseball career. I had traveled to see my father Charlie a couple of times also, and he seemed content with the life he had living in a small town as a local police officer.

I was very pleased with my life and the way it was developing. I didn't need Prince Charming swooping in and sweeping me off my feet.

But I was still here, sitting in a booth in Carlisle's Diner on 45th Street, waiting for the next babbling idiot to trip while coming in the door, talk about himself the whole meal, and expect me to pay after we were done eating.

So I wasn't surprised when a 20-something year old – brown hair, brown eyes, average height – walked into the diner looking around aimlessly. I _was_ surprised, however, at how attractive he was. Normally the guys I'm put on blind dates with are blind dates for a reason; but not this guy. He was probably hoping to get lucky and score a tall, hot blonde, but if that was the case he would be surprised when he saw me – a short brunette - sitting in a booth by herself looking pathetic. He glanced over to me and I smiled.

"Bella?" He mouthed. I nodded.

He actually didn't look disappointed while walked over to my booth. So far, so good.

"I'm Bella," I introduced myself, sticking out my hand for him to shake.

He grabbed it firmly; probably trying to give the impression that he was strong and muscular.

"I'm Emmett," he said. He took a seat in the booth across from me and pulled a menu out from behind the salt and pepper shakers.

"So how do you know Rose?" I asked him, trying to start conversation.

"We work together," he said. "Basically she creates products and I sell them."

"Ah," I sighed, trying to make my voice sound as kind as possible. "Do you like your job?"

"It's okay," he replied. "It's near home, there's good pay; I'm just not sure it's the kind of work I want to do the rest of my life, you know?" He smiled.

"Fortunately not," I replied in return. "I have always been very lucky when it comes to my career."

"What do you do again?" He asked politely.

"I'm a newspaper columnist, for the _Chicago Sun Tribune_."

"Wow," he exclaimed, sounding genuine. "That's pretty impressive."

"Thanks," I smiled. "I enjoy it."

I barely finished my sentence before an attractive waiter walked over to our table.

"Hello," he said, smile widening and eyes glowing. "My name's Edward and I'll be your server tonight. What can I start the two of you off with to drink?"

"I'll have a beer," I said bluntly; causing both men to smile, at the same time looking a bit shocked.

"Same," Emmett said.

"I'll be right back with that," Edward said as he walked off.

"A beer, huh?" Emmett asked, smirking. "Been a rough week at the office?"

"Nah," I laughed, "I just like beer."

His grin widened. "Sounds like my type of woman."

A few minutes of talking followed, and we discussed things ranging from where we went to college to what kind of coffee we drank. Soon Edward returned to our table and set a beer in front of each of us.

"There's that," he said as he reached into his apron and grabbed out two straws.

"That was quick," I remarked. "Then again this place isn't exactly a hot spot, even on Friday nights."

I didn't know what had made me say it, but I immediately felt embarrassed. I turned to see the expression on Edward's face. He was smiling, but looking at me as if he was amused yet curious as to why I thought that.

"My father owns this diner," he replied bluntly, but he didn't look upset.

I still felt even worse. "I'm so sorry," I apologized.

"It's fine," he said. "I know we're not exactly jam-packed but hey, we're not out of business." He looked around and then looked back at me, smiling. "Obviously."

I cleared my throat and glanced at Emmett - hoping he might change the topic – but he was on his phone all of the sudden. I barely knew him, yet a part of me was secretly hoping he was texting a friend; telling them the date was going well. I wondered if he _did_ think it was going well.

When I looked back up to see if Edward was still there, I found that indeed he was; and that he had been staring at me this entire time, smiling.

When I looked up he looked away quickly and looked at Emmett putting his phone back in his jacket pocket.

"You two ready to order?" Edward asked.

I glanced at Emmett.

"Actually, what time is it?" Emmett he asked suddenly. "I just remember I have an appointment at 9, so…"

"You have an appointment?"

"Yeah, I forgot about it until just now when my…..contact texted me."

Now he was acting kind of suspicious.

"Your 'contact'?" I asked, but laughed, trying to play it off as a joke.

"Yeah," he replied bluntly, and left it at that.

Meanwhile, Edward was standing silently at the end of our table, pad of paper in hand. For some reason I could see his brain ticking, analyzing the situation, as if trying to figure out what might happen next.

"That's absolutely fine," I stated calmly. I was suspicious because I knew Emmett's excuse sounded like what a guy would say if he was about to go meet another girl. However, I had always had a problem with judging people too quickly, so I wasn't going to pin him as that type of guy just yet. Also, I didn't want to satisfy Edward and say something stupid to make the situation worse, as I normally would do, so I just kept calm.

Emmett stood up from the table and set a twenty for the bill on the table.

"Thanks," I said in correspondence to him paying for the meal – my half included.

"No problem." He was putting his jacket on.

"So I guess I'll see you later then."

I said this like it was a question.

"Yeah, I'll see you." He smiled. "Or maybe you could give me a call sometime?"

"Definitely."

He took out a pen from his jacket pocket and wrote his number down on a napkin.

When he was finished he put his pen away and slid the napkin in front of me.

"There you go," he said.

I folded it and put it in my purse.

"Well there's that," I said, and gave a small nervous laugh.

I got up to give him a hug. I didn't think that was over the top for a first date, no matter how short.

Apparently it wasn't for him either, because he hugged me back.

"Bye," I said, and before I knew it he was already out the diner door.

But Edward, to my surprise, was still standing at the edge of our table. As I looked at him I also noticed that he was smiling at me.

He turned to leave.

"Hey," I sort of yelled in order to get his attention. When he turned back around slowly and I noticed that was _still_ smiling, I lowered my voice and asked, "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing," he said.

I gave him a look of disbelief.

"You can't just go around smiling and not expect people to ask why," I pointed out.

He laughed, but sat down in the booth across from me.

"Why are you giving this guy the time of day?" he asked seriously.

"What? You don't even know the guy, what problem could you possibly have with him?"

"You barely know him either," he said. "I mean come on, you just met the guy."

I had to agree with him there, but I still didn't see what problem he could have with someone neither of us really knew.

"Fair enough," I gave in. "But what's your problem with him?"

"Well maybe it's just me but I tend to think its rude when a guy cuts a date short with one girl so he can go see another."

He must've seen the expression on my face after he said that, because he added, "I'm sure you can do much better than a jerk like that."

"Thanks," I said quietly. "But let's assume that he wasn't going to see another girl. What would you think of him then?"

"Well it doesn't matter what I think of him. I'm not the one interested in him." He smiled. "What matters is how you feel about him. Was there a spark?"

"Spark?" I questioned.

"You know, the feeling when you just know that there's something special between the two of you. When you feel a rush of attraction and spark of chemistry."

I thought it over for a minute and found myself admitting that no; I hadn't felt a 'spark.'

"No…" I replied slowly.

I stared at him, into his eyes, and felt myself blushing. "I don't know whether to argue or thank you."

"Neither," he said. "Maybe you could just….find yourself here again. Give a different, more decent guy a chance." He added with a smile, "Anyways, this diner is the perfect place for a date. It's never crowded, even on Friday nights."

I laughed; and in a flash my evening went from good, to bad, back to good.

* * *

Author's Note:

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! I already have this story written & finished, but I still want to put it up chapter by chapter. It's going to be 3 chapter's long, so please stay along for the ride!

P.S. Please Review!! I know it seems like a waste of time to some of you, but it really means a lot to me to find out what you guys think! Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

A couple weeks later I did find myself back at Carlisle's Diner on 45th Street.

This time my date was with someone named Jasper; Alice's friend's brother.

When he walked into the diner, I saw that he was tall, with curly blonde hair and blue eyes. He, like Emmett, was also attractive. Maybe my luck was changing.

Jasper already knew what I looked like because Alice had described me to him – short, brunette, brown eyes. He saw me sitting in a booth and immediately knew who I was.

"Jasper," he said. This time he was the first one to stick out his hand for me to shake.

I shook it and responded, "Bella."

"This is a nice, quiet little diner," He noted, which made me give a small laugh.

"It is," I agreed.

"I can't believe I haven't come here before. Have you?" He questioned.

"Actually yes, I was here a couple of weeks ago….on a different date."

"Well you mustn't have had much luck or we wouldn't be sitting here," he smiled. "Which is fortunate for me."

"So what do you do for a living?" I asked him.

"I work in real estate," he said. "I would ask you what you do but Alice already told me all about it, seeing as you work with her."

"So you two are good friends then?" I asked. "You and Alice?"

"Pretty close. My sister and her have been friends since we were kids so we basically grew up together. I remember when we were little we used to pretend I was Sherlock Holmes and investigate silly things together, like who stole the last peanut butter cookie."

He laughed.

"That sounds like fun," I said.

"It's always fun when you're around Alice," he replied.

I was expecting a waiter to come over to our table any moment now, but I wasn't expecting it to be Edward. When I saw him walking in our direction, smiling as always, my heart jumped and I didn't know why.

"Well hello, Miss Bella," he welcomed. "And who is this?" He motioned towards Jasper.

"Jasper," I said, and Jasper smiled. "A friend of ours set us up."

"How do you know Bella?" Jasper questioned.

"I was her waiter a few weeks ago on her last date."

"Hmmm," Jasper said.

"What would you like to drink?" Edward asked both of us. "Bella, I presume you'll want a beer."

I laughed. "No actually, I'll take a sweet tea with lemon tonight."

"Getting fancy, are we?" Edward joked. "And what would you like, Jasper?"

"Hell, I'll take a beer."

We all laughed and then Edward walked away to get our drinks.

"That's funny that you drink your sweet tea with lemon in it," Jasper mentioned. "I remember when I took Alice to prom that's all she wanted to drink. They had Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew, even water, but Alice insisted on sweet tea with lemon."

"Well maybe she influenced it on me," I said. "I only started liking it recently."

"Alice does have an effect on people," he laughed.

And that's when I realized it. The obvious fact that had been staring me in the face our entire date.

Jasper was totally in love with Alice.

Now I was never one to play matchmaker, but this time I would make an exception. Alice was a best friend to me, and she deserved to be with someone who cared about her as I saw that Jasper did.

"So why did you get set up on this date?" I asked him. "You seem like a very nice, handsome, smart gentleman. Why don't you already have a girlfriend?"

"That's very nice of you to say," he replied. "I guess the main reason is I never find someone who quite….lives up to my expectations."

"Which are what, exactly?" I inquired.

He hesitated, but continued explaining. "My ideal girl is confident and intelligent with a bubbly personality and great sense of humor. She's beautiful on the inside and out. She's creative, loving, and above all isn't afraid of who she is."

I smiled. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you just described Alice."

He turned pink. "Ohh….did I?"

"You did." I laughed. "You're in love with her!"

He didn't say anything.

"So go on, why haven't you told her yet?"

"She doesn't…want me," He said slowly. "I'm probably just a friend to her."

"You don't know that she doesn't want you until you ask," I insisted. "And all great relationships begin as strong friendships."

He stared at me. "Do you really think I should say something?" he asked.

"I most definitely do," I replied. "Life is too short to not go for what you want. You shouldn't even be here wasting your time with someone who isn't Alice."

He smiled. "You're a lifesaver," he said. "No, no. A lovesaver."

He laughed and stood up from the table.

"It was great meeting you," he said, and gave me a hug. "I expect I'll be seeing you soon."

We both smiled and then he walked out of the diner.

Edward appeared at the table seconds later, smiling. He had Jasper and I's drink orders but set them down on the table and took a seat across from me. "Well aren't you the modern day matchmaker," he said.

"What are you talking about?"

"I was watching you. I heard the entire conversation and I saw how you convinced Jasper that he should go for your friend Alice. You told him he shouldn't even be here wasting his time with someone who wasn't Alice."

I smiled. "You really shouldn't eavesdrop," I said. "Most people consider it rude."

"You're not most people."

There was a brief silence in which we looked at each other.

I was sort of thirsty, so I picked up my Dr. Pepper from the table and took a swig. I then realized I would have to pay for it and started digging in my purse for my wallet.

"It's on the house," Edward said, stopping me from searching.

"That's very nice of you," I replied.

There was another short silence as I drank until Edward picked up the beer intended for Jasper and said, "What the hell."

I laughed.

"Do you think you would've gone out with him again, had it not been for the whole already-in-love-with-your-best-friend-thing?" He asked me.

"I don't know," I answered. "I didn't feel a "spark"."

Now it was his turn to laugh.

"I can't help wondering though," he said once he had stopped laughing, "You asked Jasper why he was on a date. That he seemed like a smart, handsome, decent guy. I can't help wondering why _you_ keep going on all these dates. You seem like a smart, beautiful, decent girl."

I felt myself slightly blushing. "I'm not sure," I said honestly. "I've just…never had much luck with guys. As you can see from my past two dates. The first too busy trying to be a hot shot to be in love with anyone," I laughed, "And the second in love with my best friend."

He looked in my eyes and I could tell that he actually cared when I talked. It felt nice to have someone listen instead of talk for a change.

"You must've been in love before," he egged me on.

"I was once," I continued. "In college. His name was Carter and we dated for roughly a year. I thought we knew everything about each other; that we told each other everything. But he turned out to be keeping secrets from me; and if there's one thing I value most in a relationship its absolute honesty."

"What kinds of secrets?" Edward asked.

"I suspected that he had a thing for this popular girl before we met and started dating. He insisted that there was never anything between them and that as soon as he became interested in me he lost all interest in her. About 11 months into the relationship I started noticing that he was always out somewhere with his friends and I was getting a little suspicious about where he was and what he was doing. Then one night while he was out, I went out to a club with my friends Rose and Angela."

Edward's eyebrows rose.

"Not a strip club," I laughed. Edward smiled. "Anyways, we were out on the floor dancing and Angela goes, 'That guy looks a lot like Carter' and I spun around to see and immediately saw that it actually _was_ him. He was dancing with the girl I had suspicions about when we first started dating. It ended very quickly after that."

"What a loser," Edward concluded. "Any guy stupid enough to throw away someone like you is not only an ass, but a loser too."

I was blushing again.

I looked at my watch and saw that it was almost 10.

"I should probably be going," I said.

"Well maybe I'll see you here again," Edward smiled.

"Maybe you will."

* * *

Author's Note:

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!! Only one more chapter to go and I will probably be adding it tomorrow night. Please REVIEW!!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

And so he did see me again.

Two weeks later, I went on yet _another_ blind date; a double-date set up by the newly engaged Alice and Jasper. They were the couple I was double-dating with, and I was set up with Jasper's cousin James.

Also different this time, I didn't have to sit alone in a booth waiting for anyone to arrive because as soon as I walked in the door and sat down, Edward took a seat opposite me.

"They should be here any minute," I told him as we waited.

"So let me get this straight – Alice and Jasper are engaged now?" He smiled. "Look what you did."

"I know, I know," I smiled back. "I shouldn't have."

I looked at him. I felt myself wanting to know more about him. The times I'd seen him before, we'd talked only about me.

"So your dad owns this diner?" I asked him. "How long have you worked here?"

"Since I was about 10," he said. "He used to tell me that's how I was earning an allowance." He laughed.

"What made him want to open up a diner?"

"My grandfather owned a pizza place, and my father worked at it the same way I'm working here now. My dad grew up working there. He loved it. He met some of his best friends there, he payed his way through college by working there, he even met my mother Esme there. When he went to school he majored in business because he always wanted a diner of his own. And he worked hard enough to eventually get one. It taught me that working hard can give you whatever you want."

"And what do you want?" I asked him.

He looked at me. I mean _really_ looked at me.

He opened his mouth to speak.

"Bella!" Alice screamed from the diner door. "Always the early bird!"

Edward cleared his throat and got up from the table so Alice and Jasper could slide in.

"What's up, my man?" Jasper shook hands with Edward as he approached the table. "I remember you."

Edward smiled. "I remember you."

Alice gave me a huge hug and then pointed at Edward.

"Is this the waiter you two were talking about?" she asked.

"This is he," Jasper confirmed.

Edward looked astounded that Jasper and I had been talking about him.

"Well then it's a pleasure to meet you," Alice said.

Alice and Jasper started talking amongst themselves for a minute and Edward pulled me aside.

"You've been talking about me, huh?" He laughed.

"It's all bad stuff, trust me," I joked.

A tall, buff, blonde walked in the door and recognized Jasper, leading me to assume this was James.

"Hi, everyone," he said to us as he walked to the table.

"I know Jasper, of course," he said.

Pointing at Alice he stated, "And this must be his new fiancée Alice."

Alice smiled.

Then he pointed at me, and said, "So you must be Bella."

He took my hand and kissed it.

"You're even more beautiful than I imagined," he said.

"Thanks," I said awkwardly. I had never found the whole 1800's chivalry thing impressive.

I saw Edward giving James a look of disgust. It made me want to laugh, but I managed to contain myself.

All four of us sat down in the booth; me beside James, Alice beside Jasper.

"Drinks?" Edward asked.

"Pepsi's for us," Jasper motioned to himself and Alice.

"I'll have a beer," James said. He turned to me, "What will beautiful be drinking tonight?"

"I'll have a beer also," I said, and Edward walked away from the table.

"You can ease up on the compliments, by the way," I added. "I think two is enough for the whole evening." I laughed lightly to try to lighten what I said.

"I just can't get over how beautiful you are, is that such a crime?" he asked, pathetically. He placed one of his hands on my thigh underneath the table.

"Hey!" I yelled as I stood up from the table. "Now you are taking this way too far!"

"You act like someone has never given you a compliment," he said in defense.

"What you're doing is _not_ complimenting. What you're doing is becoming disgusting."

"You think me calling you beautiful is disgusting?" James asked me, getting more serious and more angry by the second. "I can show you disgusting."

"James!" Jasper shouted.

"Why don't you just back off, buddy?" Edward suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stepped in front of me.

"Why don't you just mind your own business, _buddy_?" James mocked.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Stop it, both of you!"

I looked at Edward. "Go back in the kitchen, please."

He looked at me and started walking back in the direction of the kitchen.

There was barely enough time for James to mutter "speaking of disgusting" before Edward whipped back around and sucker punched him square in the jaw.

"Nice one!" I said, and Edward laughed.

Jasper went over to James to see how he was, but James pushed him away.

"I'm out, man," James said, and giving Edward one last snarl, he practically ran out of the diner.

Alice, who had been quiet the entire short evening, now managed to mutter, "Well damn."

This made me, Jasper, and Edward laugh and soon Alice was laughing too.

"Well I think those five minutes were enough drama for us for one night," Jasper smiled. "We're gonna go."

"I'll see you guys soon," I replied, and gave them both hugs as they left. Edward gave both of them handshakes.

Edward and I were both exhausted, and our solution for this as it was for most things lately was to sink down into the comfort of the booth.

"Thanks for standing up for me," I thanked him.

"Anytime," he replied. He said this seriously, not as if he were joking around.

"I think I'll just give up on guys for a while though," I sighed.

Edward cleared his throat. "I don't think you should do that."

"Why not?" I asked him. "I'm tired of trying. I'm tired of looking. I'm tired of….always feeling second best."

"You could never be second best," Edward said. "And the perfect guy will know that. You don't have to keep trying to find him; you don't have to keep looking for him. You just have to open your eyes and realize that….he's been right in front of you the whole time."

He got up from the table to allow me some time to think, I guess.

"Don't worry," he said. "You'll find him."

I sat there and thought for a couple of minutes. I knew I shouldn't give up on finding love. I tried to figure out what Edward meant when he said that all I had to do was "open up my eyes", that the perfect guy was "right in front of me the whole time".

Then it came to me in a flash.

Edward – _he_ was right there in front of me. He had been there for me this whole time, after my disastrous dates he had talked to me; comforted me.

He made me feel…like myself again. I didn't have to try to impress him. The way I acted around him came naturally. He listened when I talked; he cared what I had to say. I had never met anyone that made me feel like I felt when I was with Edward.

There was only one way to describe what I felt for him – I was falling in love with him.

I knew I had said I would stop looking, stop trying to find the perfect guy; but all I knew now was that I _had_ to find him. I _had_ to find Edward.

I walked throughout the diner and searched every booth. He wasn't sitting in any of them. I looked outside the diner on the park bench sitting in front of it. He wasn't there either. I figured he had to be in the kitchen; the most obvious place to look which of course I was dumb enough to look in last.

I persuaded one of the waitresses to let me in when I told her who I was looking for and why.

As soon as she gave me the okay, I threw open the kitchen doors and yelled "Edward!"

I saw him turn to look at me and I marched over to where he was. I didn't care that everyone in that kitchen was looking at me and I didn't care that to everyone else in that kitchen I probably looked insane.

There was only one thing I cared about right now, and that was him.

When I stood in front of him, I put my hands on either side of his face.

"I don't have to look for the perfect guy anymore," I said, looking straight into his eyes. "I've found him."

He smiled bigger than I'd seen him do so before. And he smiled a lot.

"I'm falling in love with you," he whispered to me.

"Dido," I whispered back.

As soon as our lips touched I felt it. The spark that he had told me about the first night we met. And that's when I knew; I knew right there in his arms was where I was supposed to be.

He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me even closer, if that were possible. The only way this could be more intimate was if I jumped up and put my legs around his waist. So I did.

After what seemed like forever we heard clapping so we broke apart, smiling like idiots.

Everyone in the kitchen was either clapping, dog whistling or "aww-ing".

"Thank you, thank you very much," Edward joked, and took a bow. I played along and curtsied.

He turned back around to face me and kissed me again. The kiss was just as passionate as the first one.

"You wanna get out of here?" He asked me when we broke apart. "Go somewhere quiet where we can talk?"

"I know the perfect place." I smiled.

Hand in hand, I led him out of the kitchen and back into the diner.

"Here we are," I said.

He looked out into the diner which was as quiet as always and laughed.

There was a slow jazz song playing on the jukebox, and Edward stuck out his hand for me to take.

"Want to dance?" he asked.

I replied as I grabbed his hand and smiled. "Absolutely."


End file.
